The Paladins

Music - Records

October 18, 1996|By PARRY GETTELMAN

**** The Paladins, Million Mile Club (4AD): Cutting-edge rock label 4AD is not the first place one would expect to find a trio firmly rooted in western blues-rock. But since 4AD once figured out a way to market oddball artists such as Cocteau Twins and Throwing Muses, maybe it also knows the trick to breaking a more traditional band that has somehow never gotten the attention it deserves.

The Paladins have been around since the '80s, rocking the blues in a muscular, straightforward style closer in spirit to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble than the flashy efforts of the many flagrant imitators. The Paladins should be kings of the national blues circuit but have found only pockets of popularity. Million Mile Club was recorded live last spring at several of their West Coast strongholds. The tracks include many older, previously recorded numbers, stretched out into longer jams but remarkably free of filler.

The majority of the tracks are well-chosen covers, such as the swampy ''Let's Buzz,'' the humorous but ornery ''Fifteen Days Under the Hood'' and the jazzy, noir-ish ''Big Mary's.'' The album reaches an appropriate climax, however, with a fine original, the surging ''One Step.''

Throughout, stand-up bassist Thomas Yearsley and drummer Jeff Donavan form a rock-solid foundation for Dave Gonzalez' stormy rhythm guitar, taut solos and gravelly, aggressive vocals. Million Mile Club should prove a valuable calling card for the Paladins with the proper push from 4AD and its distributor, Warner Bros.